World No.8 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland extended the slump of Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic by defeating the former world No.1 7-6(4) 6-4 in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Ivanovic’s last match prior to the tournament in Stuttgart had been another loss to Radwanska, in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Despite facing disappointment after disappointment the world No.57 Ivanovic is staying positive, or at least she is trying to project such an image:

It was a tough loss but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I have to be positive. I’m trying to make every shot perfect and it’s just not coming every time. I just need to relax more. A few mistakes here and there are costing me matches. I just have to be patient.

The 22-year-old Ivanovic, champion at the clay-court Grand Slam of Roland Garros in 2008, was playing her first match on clay in 11 months at this year’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

The fifth-seeded Radwanska will play Shahar Peer of Israel in the second round. (photo: sr_cranks)

I only saw bits a pieces of her game agains Radwanska but, from what I did see, she is really suffering mentally.

She is, when all said and done, just a young girl still. She’s almost certainly putting herself under too much pressure to try to recapture the form that got her to No 1.

If she carries on like this she will get into a vicious circle that she is unable to get out of, losing, putting pressure on herself, the pressure then affects her even more so she loses again, and then the cycle starts again!

Her friends and family should, in my opinion, be telling her to take a break, telling her to understand that theres more to life than tennis and that she shouldn’t let it affect her health (both physical and mental).

I wish her well and hope that she gets herself sorted out before she spirals into depression over her tennis.

Ana played well there in the 1st set and early on in the 2nd. The serve was much better and consistent and her forehand looked pretty good too. Her problem is her mental fragility in the big moments. She still gets very nervous and her level of play drops off. That is what kills her and that is the reason why she lost this match. That will not change until she starts coming through in those situations which she had an opportunity to do today. A win would of have been really big for her mindset and confidence but she’s just back were she was at the beginning of the day. That is what’s so frustrating. Hopefully she can get a big win the next couple of weeks. That would benefit her greatly heading into Roland Garros.

Her play today just goes to show that Ana was doing more than just “drinking coffee” the past week. 😉

I don’t think Ana needs a break from tennis. She already took a break from tennis and it did her no good. What she needs to do is the exact opposite, quite frankly. She needs to play more. That’s the problem with Ana right now, she’s barely playing. And if you’re barely playing, then you’re not going to improve your game, particularly the mental aspect of it which is Ana’s biggest problem.

Ana has only played 4 matches since the beginning of February. She needs to significantly add to her schedule and play more smaller events. Currently, Ana only has 15 events on her schedule, fewer than the entire top 100 of the WTA with the exception of Justine and Kim. That’s just inexcusable. She needs the match play to work out her game and mind. Practice alone won’t do it.

Ana also should of had been playing Fes instead of Stuttgart. It’s a much weaker field there giving Ana a better opportunity to win and thus build confidence. She should also play Estoril instead of Rome, etc.

Tony, “If she carries on like this she will get into a vicious circle” – I think she’s been in that vicious circle for a long time already.

Curtis, your theory about small tournaments makes sense. Now that I think about it, it could be a very good option to try at least. I don’t know why Ana doesn’t take that approach. Remember when Sharapova won Memphis? It was a good idea.